Final Fantasy Character Models: How I Love Thee

I was talking to someone recently about the different feeling of gravity or weight in different Final Fantasy games, and of course this is a great excuse for me to write a blog about about my favourite game again, and to go and play it a bit for the screenshots to illustrate the post. Excellent.

Final Fantasy VIII - The party is about to get run over by a bus.

So what do I mean here? Well, it's no secret that Final Fantasy VIII is my favourite one. I love the junction system, I love the world and its politics, and I love the more realistically proportioned character models compared to the games immediately following and preceding this one.

Final Fantasy VII - Fart has the last word.

Now, don't get me wrong, I also love the polygonal beauty that is Cloud in Final Fantasy VII, and the way your party of pals walks directly into your body and disappears after dialogue is done. I know a lot of people have various difficulties with these weird quirks of the graphics of the time, but I adore the ways the game demonstrates abstraction this way. Your party members aren't literally walking inside Cloud, nor are they adorable chibi versions of people. Cloud's hands, astonishingly, aren't really blocks! I love their in-game character models, and it's interesting to me how much this intrinsically affects the feel of gameplay.

Final Fantasy VIII - Selphie phases through a car. Normal.

In Final Fantasy VIII, we suddenly had realistically proportioned character models, as well as party members who merrily run behind protagonist Squall as he moves. They may somewhat creepily echo his exact movements, but these changes in how characters look and move do so much to create an entirely different feel to this game. Later, we'd go back to some older design elements for Final Fantasy IX for an alternatively satisfying experience (and I think the most pleasing aspect of character control in that game was the clunky footstep sounds - great stuff), but the unique weight of character control in Final Fantasy VIII makes me wonder - how much did that contribute to my enjoyment of the game?

Final Fantasy IX - Lindblum Dragon's Gate.

It's interesting. It's such a major element of a game - the way you control and see your player character - but it's also something so unconscious. I barely think about it, but it impacts everything. I think Squall clomping his long legs around across rusty train tracks, destroyed schools, and spooky castles is such a big part of what I love about this game. And I love the way Rinoa's long vest-cardigan-cape thing flaps behind her as she runs. Beautiful.